This Teferi EDH deck was previously edited as "Highlander deck derived from Nightmare's EDH".
Some months have passed and deck has evolved and Commander Teferi now leads small army of Wizards on their way of combo victory. Also this topic is being updated every new set.

Maybe you will wonder why this deck uses Azami as a normal card and not as general. This deck is designed for casual games, but also contain simple info how to transform it into more competetive. Its same archetype as Azami EDH deck (all glory to the Nightmare) using the Mind over Matter combo, but in a bit more complicated manner which makes games bit more fun. Choice of Teferi as the general was made from many reasons. He is wizard (and this is tribal wizard deck), he is not a part of combo, but he can help to protect cards which are in combo...

The deck is for casual play so it does not contain some well known locks. On the other hand modifying it to power version is quite easy. You can find those cards there written in following manner:
Casual card < Power card

Secondary combo cards:
those makes wonders when infinite mana or card draw is running. Else can be used as mana fixing, accelerating or drawing.

Savor the Moment - when the combo is ignited, grants infinite turns only by being in the deck.
Elixir of immortality - means that i can reroll whole deck.
Mnemonic nexus
Gush - Combo enabler with Mind over Matter.
Also Ensnare works same way

The deck is basically combo-control with tribal wizard theme. Control part is not designed only to countermagic, but also to decrease amount of free mana of your oponnent. This also provide additional protection for playing the combo. If the oponnent does not have enough mana, its much harder for him to cause damage to my combo permanents.

Also deck contain a large amount of combos. Mana artifacts typical for Mind over matter archetypes - such as Gilded lotus with spells like Stroke of Genius can also be used it combos with Pemmin's aura. Some anti-combo players ague that probability of getting two combo pieces is very low, but the chance is multiplying as you can get more card where one can replace other.

Generally you have to defend yourself, collect cards for combo, and win in one turn. Amount of combo cards and wizards make the combo part of deck less obvious. The timing of play is very crucial. The deck does not contain only one or two combos. It contains many combination of cards when one card can replace other in same combo. Mind over matter can ignite its full power not only with Azami, but with another cards in this decklist.

Deck itself is not build around its general. This has some reasons. First of all Teferi itself still can help wizards to be cast via his flash granting ability and thus be "accelerated" for tapping. Also his first ability grants enough time during my turn to put combo on table. Also this approach to deck construction allow me to switch between generals quite easy. Althought Teferi is the main general, deck contain other legendary wizards which can be used in this way. This means much more fun in play with this deck.

Other reason is that this deck can be played even without its general. Deck is legal for both EDH and german Highlander. If used as HL deck so i have only 20 life points the deck is pretty hard to play, in EDH mode its much more stronger due life points. Working around two banlists is very hard, and also no sideboard is allowed.

-----------------------------------

Alternate generals:
Sometimes I want to play more casual, or try to react on meta I will just replace Teferi with other blue legendary wizard.

Cards with combo potential in this deck
These cards have great potential in speeding the deck, or to create stronger combinations or were previously played a lot in "Mind over Matter" archetype decks.
Memory Jar
Magus of the Jar
Tidal Bore
Visions of Beyond

Reshuffle effects (usually keep MOM based decks more safe).
Feldon's Cane - The original reshuffle i used to play.
Thran Foundry
Elixir of Immortality
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - Both those eldrazi can be discarded via MOM to shuffle the grave to the library. However easy target for bribery.
Reminisce

Card draw ability with "Tap" in cost. These cards are both "Combo initiator" and "combo finisher" since they allow card drawing:
Urza's Blueprints - Old combo with MOM.
Temple Bell - New combo with MOM.

"Combo finishers"
Azure mage (Wiz)
Treasure Trove
Petals of Insight
Soratami Seer (Wiz) - A surprise for me. I knew about the card the card for years but I was overlooking its potential - especially in this kind of deck.

Untap targets. Think of infinite combo with result which allows you to infinitely tap/untap targets. These are "Combo finishers", but not "initiators".
Wake thrasher - broken with cards like Aphetto alchemist

Artifact animation. Think of variations of Gilded lotus and Freed from the real. These cards are "Combo initiators".
Animate artifact
Karn's touch
Karn, Silver Golem
March of the machines
Tezzeret the seeker

Land animation. Combine with Caged sun and Freed from the real. These cards are "Combo initiators".

Faerie Conclave
Genju of the Falls

socialite

04-15-2011, 08:19 AM

You should really play Knowledge Pool.

Bignasty197

04-15-2011, 11:02 AM

Even for 1v1, you should add Consecrated Sphinx and possibly Ancestral Vision. Sphinx may not have much synergy with the rest of your deck, but I think it is too good not to play in this format.

Offler

04-15-2011, 02:45 PM

to Ertai's Familiar:
Interesting card but seems to me too chaotic. Maybe I just cannot find its usage right now.

to Bignasty197:
I did not play concsecrated Sphinx... You are right, no synergy. there are only three cards for 6 mana in this deck. Mom, Arcanis and Sphinx of magosi. some people reccomended me to not play any sphinx because of possibility being stolen by Bribery.

I tried also Ancestral Vision. Good pick for 1st turn. However bit slow from my point of view. this deck has quile few lands so any drawing is good, but mana is not a problem for drawing. Even for very few mana the card had too big delay for me.

socialite

04-15-2011, 02:51 PM

to Ertai's Familiar:
Interesting card but seems to me too chaotic. Maybe I just cannot find its usage right now.

You do realize with Teferi you lock out all your opponents from playing spells for the rest of the game when you drop Knowledge Pool.

Read this:

http://forum.dragonhighlander.net/EDH_Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6302

Offler

04-15-2011, 07:24 PM

Thats really crazy :) I did not realize that Knowledge pool allows cast a spell while its ability is still on stack. It is not an autolose, as some people think.

At all more evil could be Arcane Laboratory with Ertai/Erayo lock. Much less mana to lock.

Since I want to keep this deck legal for both formats, it will be hard to use it here. In HL mode when Teferi is not in Command zone it might be troublesome to find both cards.

However this brought me to the idea of Arcane lab again... I might found some place for Erayo. It is good to know that oponnent will cast less than 4 spells per turn.

Edit:
I had rethink it once again and compared Knowledge Pool with Inkwell leviathan. Both are Artifacts, one of them is totally colorless, other is blue and creature. Both can be accelerated via Master Transmuter, Grand architect, both have manacost pretty high.

But then I started to comparing them as single card which entered battlefield. Disenchants, Return to dust, Krosan Grips are Autoinclude cards in most decks i have seen. Shroud means extra point for leviathan. Also Leviathan works as a single card threat +1 point. Knowledge pool needs another card - Teferi. That makes great benefit in EDH mode of the deck (+2 in EDH, 0 in HL).

At all for both cards I like the new idea of paying mana by creatures via Grand Architect, putting into play by Master transmuter, Tinker, Transmute artifact or Gnomes... To be honest some games ended with lose because i missed easy to find big bad monster... and leviathan seems to be great candidate now :)

Offler

04-17-2011, 07:22 AM

Presence of both Aether Vial and Winding Canyons convicted me to remove Temple bell from the deck and return Archivist back to deck. Archivist will replace Prodigal sorcerer. both have possibility to kill an oponnend via combo. If Suq-Ata will do more work while controlling as Archivist at his acceleration I will maybe reconsider it later.

Offler

04-24-2011, 03:03 PM

Althougth Aether Vial is highly rated among players I had a very strange feeling about it while being played in this deck. I let it grow on 3 and no creature wtih that CMC came for a longer period, so I let it grow on 5 and all 3 CMC wizards were on hand :D

since many people want me to add black I have checked the deck now. Transmute is Dimir, so I take all transmute cards as partially black, at least with their functionality and flavor. Also Fatestitcher as single Unearth creature is for me much more black as blue. Therefore I checked some Planeshifted cards.

Fungal Charm - Piracy Charm
Piracy charm was one of the first foils I opened. The card seemed to me a strange, and I had no idea why. later I found its Black predcessor and it was clear.

Wistful thinking
Not a planeshifted card, but really strong discard in blue. I expected similar card in black...

Psionic blast - Char
Blue - Red combination. Reminds me Twincast and Reverbate. For some time I was thinking of Psionic blast for its unusual effect for a blue card.

Psychic Purge - Blue? I smell black... :)

Offler

05-02-2011, 07:18 AM

I have been looking for some Wizards with decent CMC and power in attack.

Crookclaw transmuter
Vendilion Clique is definitely better from any point of view. But in such format its good replacement, however no slot free for such wizard.

Soratami Rainshaper
Well this Moonfolk is very low rated and I clearly understand why. But then I compared it with other card with very good rating - the Glen Elendra Archmage. Moonfolk is 2/1 for 3 CMC. Faerie is 2/2 for CMC4.

They both have flying and ability which can cause noncreature spells to fizzle. Both abilities have drawbacks. Both abilities can be activated no matter if the creature attacked.

Glen elendra needs to be sacrificed, which with persists means that It can use its ability only 2 times. (usually).

Soratami Rainshaper does not cause spell to be countered, but it can only create shroud. Cost is 3 mana and returning a land. Each moonfolk has interaction with Landfall, but thats not case of this deck. Returning a land and playing it same turn is like paying 3 mana, bouncing the land and playing, whan can lower the cost to 2 mana if you havent play a land this turn. However you can activate this ability multiple times (when there is mana and lands)

Faerie's ability can be used against mass destroy spells.

The deck miss some control and decoys. Late experience with Ertai is very good, because people were many times too focused on him instead of playing their own game. And thats something I like :)

Before I refused to play the Rainshaper, but in new light it seems interesting for me.

Offler

05-09-2011, 11:27 PM

I was definitely wrong about some cards...

Venser, Shaper Savant
I never play bounce cards. This guy is really pretty. Can bounce spells and permanents. Even himself what is usable with infinite mana and selfboucing.

Mark of Eviction
Playing against elves can be exhausting. I was hint to add black and some discard. Not a bad idea, but this seems to me good enough. In this deck works with Glen Elendra to remove persists counter off her or with little Sage of Epityr.

Riptide Laboratory
Works same as mark of eviction, for a bit more mana. Some protection against burning will help a bit.

Deck just need more drawing and some random shuffling. Oboro breezecaller fixes mana only in some situations, Magus works always. Blinkmoth nexus is a way to win, but also suffers of summoning sickness and potential blockers.

Streambed aquitects was replaced by Prodigal sorcerer

Tim works fine with untapping, and do better job because it does not attack. This way of disrupt is nice, for example with pemmins aura. Aquitects are fine, but this solves also creatures on table - disrupt instead of pure (and sometimes pointless) attacking.

Wanted: Zuran Spellcaster (to keep wizard tribal theme)

Knowledge pool, Omen Machine
To play, or not to play? Thats the question... With Teferi in play they both can create really nice lock, but the manacost is bit high.

In Testing: Torpor Orb
Breaks most decks in my current meta. Its too common to play ETB abilities. Also with winter orb and Academy ruins works fine. Even when oponnent was able to reanimate his Child of alara to flush the table I was able to re-lock the game once again.

Recommended to play: Isochron scepter
I hate this card. But it really works fine with the rest of 1-2cmc cards...

Edit: Counterbalance isn't so overpowered as Isochron scepter, but I already have Sensei and Scroll rack. This promises nice control.

Academy ruins has proven most valuable with all 3 orbs.
Erayo has been recommended too. Was tested previously, but the ability usually didnt trigger when I wanted... At all another pretty lock with orbs...

Offler

06-07-2011, 07:04 AM

- Dizzy spell + Reef shaman
Tutoring 1cmc card does not make difference in starting a combo. (both ways are too obvious). Reef shaman is funny when it comes to Winter orb ...

Offler

06-12-2011, 05:47 AM

For some days I was playing strong control games thanks to all three Orbs.

Winter orb
Static orb
Torpor orb

To see them all in play was a nightmare for the oponnents, especially when they have only minor effect on my own play. That was caused by lands and mana fixation I used. In this case it was:

Khalni Gem and
Lotus Vale

Both cards affect manabase. Those cards are not commonly used. People here dont know how to use them correctly. If there is any untap based lock, like winter orb these can give you a lot of more mana, not to mention they have combo potential. But both of these cause lower number of basic lands in play.

Therefore I am considering Crucible of Worlds. This allows all sacrified lands to come back. While there is some tutoring (also artifact tutoring) engine there is no problem. Also Academy ruins can fix the lock a bit. And not to forget I can still add Petrified field reanimate the Ruins if needed. Quite good backup plan.

Also Torpor orb... I was playing a lot of enchantments and artifacts when Harmonic sliver entered battlefield. That hurts, but next card I play was this orb and it saved the game.

Offler

06-17-2011, 07:13 AM

Alternate generals

Due monoblue its easy to take any blue legendary wizard without any major change to the rest of deck. Teferi is most likely the strongest one. It represents the status which can hardly be replaced by any other legendary wizards I play here. Strong control, acceleration, combo protection and so on. But lets talk a bit about other possible Commanders which are in charge when Teferi is having a vacation on his island.

Vendilion clique
They represent agro mode of the deck. Not most usual situation but if some elves are not able to defend against flying this card is really dangerous choice. Worth killing? Maybe, but upon returning makes some mess.

Ertai, Wizard adept
He has proven himself valuable. People focus on him even when its not necessary. Universal decoy with possibility to cool down "1 card on hand" players. Adding Arcane laboratory would be nice, but I dont like such hard locks, and when he is general its somehow not very polite...

Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Arcanis, the Omnipotent
Both are obviously combo creatures with Mind Over Matter. At all those wizards are not strong in direct combat, and do not increase strength of control. But why not try, especially against some creepy discard decks.

Alternate generals not in deck:
Rayne, Academy Chancellor
Meta says that I and my creatures are often target of spells and abilities. She can cause oponnent to hesitate with his action. Especially when she can return from command zone. She is only one alternate general I am considering to add into deck. Her effect will be then somewhere between Teferi and Azami.

Memnarch and Ambassador Laquatus
Both are nice when it comes to burn the infinite mana. Memnarch will then stole all oponnents, while Laquatus will mill everything. Both also have a bit of disruptive potential.

Offler

06-22-2011, 04:55 AM

Ovinomancer and Torpor orb

Most people planned torpor orb with Phyrexian Dreadnought but this is also not bad at all.

His ability is one of the most complicated I have ever seen. It can be taken as a benefit or disadvatage depending on situation. The bouncing of lands and playing one of them same turn can virtually lower his mana cost to 2. Also more cards on hand means some resistability against random discard.

In this deck specifically he can be used with Mind over matter to fuel the combo with more cards on hand.

Synod artificer
Possibilty for infinite mana with Pemmins aura/Freed from the real and any 3 mana artifact I play. Also can tap Orbs to avoid negative effects on my side... Not a wizard, but still has nice potential.

Vedalken Anatomist
I found this card interesting in way how it "deals damage". At all 2 such counter for 6 mana total? hmm. Hard to say... No proliferate... At all it will permanently avoid 1 damage per turn from creature and made it weaker in attack...

Offler

06-23-2011, 05:16 PM

Teferi's Isle

When I was re-thinking all my lands i realized that Soldevi Excavations is almost not used. I dont search for it. When its combo time i pick Lotus Vale. If i need to accelerate mana I use Coral atoll.

Then i remembered that here is another land able to produce at least 2 blue mana. Can be misused with Zendikon as well for infinite mana combo and its price is taken as bit high but lets count it...

Comes tapped. This cost 1 mana.
Phases out. Cost another 1 mana.
Phasing causes it to work as 1 island which does not phase, but with untapping its something completely different.

In MOM part of combo works like UU mana per discard even comes tapped. This with Pemmins aura is enough to start the combo. In untap part works as UU mana source which then can produce infinite blue mana...

So besides flavour there are reasons why this card is broken, even when being junk rarity...

Reito lantern
A nightmare for reanimator, a gift for those who have single card in library and infinite mana.

For some time I have to defend against one strong reanimator combo deck, now transformed into dragon reanimator deck... In comparation with Elixir of immortality it costs more mana, even when combo for mana is running... Junktroller might also help solve this riddle...

I also compared Teferi's Isle with Saprazzan cove. Even when storaging has different role in the deck after recounting mana its certain one thing.

Magic 2012 highlights:
Azure Mage - Nice for any tribal wizard deck with infinite mana
Jace, Memory Adept - Combining drawing a cards with little milling on first ability is nice. Strong but not overpowered.
Phantasmal Image[cards] - when copying small 1/1 wizards its certain that it does not matter on way how someone will kill him...
[cards]Turn to frog only because of its flavour its nice...
Visions of beyond nice art and great usage with this deck. For 1 card and 1 mana can fuel up the combo with Azami+Mom same as Gush does.

Flash of insight
I was not willing to play it after some tests... Later I realized that I have never used its flashback ability. When playing for infinite mana you can reroll the deck, fetch single card and put the library in exact order you wish. than flashback for remove single card from grave and draw second card you need for the combo.

Thats powerful in case when the oponnent still has ability to counter some of your actions.

Infinite mana in this deck:
Mostly the deck can produce blue infinite mana. Only Soldevi Excavations and Coral atoll can produce only colorless Infinite mana. Deck has two possibilities to tutor a land. Yesterday on early game I had this ocassion. The choice was to find Lotus vale or Coral atoll. It was too early for the lotus vale so I decided to fix amount of mana by Coral atoll. In later game this broke my combo, because i needed blue mana...

Again Teferis Isle would made my choice easier. Its "total manacost" is same as with coral atoll but its efectivity in combo is same as with Lotus vale.

Offler

07-21-2011, 05:09 AM

Flavour and fun stuff:

Teferi's Imp
Effectively cause to draw 1,5 card per turn, while discard 0,5 card per turn. If destroyed (only during IN phase) it wont affect amount of cards on hand. In comparation with Vexing Sphinx which require also discard and draw it wont be limited by cumulative upkeep

Teferis Isle vs Extraplanar lens
Isle is much more flavourful and does not rely on amount of specific lands, however usage of lens is quite good as it boosts mana, at all very vulnerable. Krosan grip is used in local meta very often.

Some available snow mechanics:
Balduvian frostwaker - There are combos how to produce infinite mana from animated land, but each is linked to nonbasic/nonsnow lands
Rimewind cryomancer Not bad effect at all, with same restrictions as with taskmage.
Snowfall - thinking... need to ask something -definitely No.

Sage of Fables
Enables all wizards to provide at least 1 card.
Combo with Glen elendra is obvious, but having them two and voidmage prodigy can be really annoying.
Combines with Vigean Graftmage and any combo wizard which can use untapping for infinite mana.

Azure mage
Possibly instead of Whispers of the muse...

Information Dealer[cards]
3rd cantriping after Senseis top and Scroll rack.

Tribal Wizard theme has been improved greatly by Patron Wizard. Therefore each wizard in play is potential danger for further play. To improve the wizard tribal I hope to place Sage of Fables

Also Echo mage and Sigil tracer with combination of some spells added non-obvious method which might produce infinite mana, infinite cards of infinite untapping. Both wizards also means grave danger, when someone dont realize that even his own spells can be copied. Great for tutoring, or X killer spells.

Petrified field improves lands which are needed to combo, and makes combo less sensitive to random land destruction.

Just looking for a way where to place Opposition. However i have version from 7th edition, and version from Urza's destiny is much more flavourful in this deck. For control reasons I also plan to return Oboro breezecaller, however the deck is just too full now :D

Offler

09-11-2011, 01:27 AM

Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

Funny land isnt it. How it works besides Landfall? Well imagine situation where Winter Orb is in play and I have two lands in play.

a) those lands are Island and Soldevi Excavations
I need UUU - not possible.
I need UU - ok, possible. both lands are tapped, while next turn i can have only 1U from excavations + possibly another land, 1 mana is wasted.

b) those lands are Oboro and Soldevi excavations
I need UUU - tap both lands 1UU in pool. bounce Oboro, play again and suddenly i can tap it for another blue.
I need UU. tap both lands, bounce oboro for 1, play it, next turn I have U + 1U and next land possible.

Wake thrasher and Streambed Aquitects worked in infinite untapping combo, however if the combo was not producing infinite mana and further protection by Teferi was not optional but crucial what made them both less usable in HL mode of the deck.

Replacement for other Pinger is needed. Must be a Wizard.

Also storage effect of Saprazzan cove can be reached with Coalition Relic even when its much more temporary it does not matter.

Voidmage Prodigy, Patron wizard, Glen Eledra and other Wizards improved the deck in a way when amount of small wizards can either counter spells or block attacks, at least for a while. High occurence of Humility in current metagame forces me to use some sort response on meta level. Cryptic Command allows me to wait while I collect my combo, but in some situations its very risky to bounce it.

The need to react on some specific cards on table grows much more. Temporal adept or Heidar, Rimewind Master help in this task, but they attract too much attention, and does not help against humility. So Capsize seems to be good form of response.

Offler

10-19-2011, 09:35 AM

Testing of Deranged assistant and Sage of Fables finished. Good cards, but when i had oportunity to search them, they offered no potential in some situations. No direct control or independent card draw or filtering.

Removed and lets test other pair of wizards Willbender and Voidmage apprentice.

The deck currently contains only two morph wizards. Voidmage prodigy, Aphetto alchemist. Usually I never used their Morph ability, maybe once or twice. At all at that time I was playing only Aphetto alchemist so to people in my playgroup were sure about that card. More morph cards will make the morph ability more usable. Morph as mechanic brought me also back to the old friend Vesuvan shapeshifter.

Effect of Patron wizard:
I was wondering if there is any Mana independent counterspelling. Besides Pact of Negation, Force of Will, Foil, Thwart and Daze, there is only Patron Wizard, Counterbalance or some other wizards able to do the trick. Such control allows me to play cards and spending mana while defence is not broken. At all this fact improves my own opinion about all named cards.

Offler

10-26-2011, 07:07 AM

Tezzeret the Seeker was after some time removed from deck and replaced by Transmute Artifact. They both have effect of putting artifact into play, however Transmute artifact can help me to get rid of Winter orb or similar cards i use. Also I realized that I never used Tezzeret for other reason as tutoring.

Deranged Assistant was replaced by Artificer's Intuition. Filtering by Garl is quite useful, however since it requires at least Sensei, and rest of deck contains quite a lot of artifacts, possibilty to tutor small powerful artifacts seems nice.

This adjustment should help stabilize mana curve in a way of discarding big artifact(s), playing smaller one(s) and later by transforming it(them) into something more useful for late game or combo.

Offler

11-09-2011, 09:11 AM

Another round of testing done...

Artificer's Intuition helped a lot. Discarding 3 CMC artifact which was needed much later in the end phase of game (while no problem when it was discarded) helped to fix beginning by finding Senseis top. Also next artifact was leading me directly to Aether vial.

Both cards are very valued among players, but combination of this enchanment and Senseis Divining top was the engine which improved the overall chances to build up combo.

When playing against slivers the Root sliver completely destroyed my control based on Voidmage prodigy and quite large amount of wizards. Later Goblin bombardment offered simple possibility to destroy my combo even when Teferi was guarding it.

With Artificer's Intuition and useless artifact on hand the deck screamed for Pithing needle.

Also another interesting information is that deck would appreciate CMC1 or less artifact with ability to fuel up the combo. One of the possible solutions is Viridian Longbow which has almost same effect as prodigal sorcerer...

Coalition relic is referred as great card. Since this deck contain not too much lands, and common starting mana on hand is 2 lands CMC 3 mana source is something that cannot be used in any situation. Everflowing chalice will replace it soon. Fixes mana in bit different way, but CMC 0 allows it to be searched by Artificers intuition and its multikicker lets on player how much mana he can spend for further acceleration. 2 mana for untapped artifact which produces 1 colorless mana is fine and reflect needs at the beginning of the game (with average 2 lands on hand).

However slots for Viridian longbow and Pithing needle are questionable. With strong reanimator in local meta also Tormod's crypt has reasonable usage in deck.

The last thing in this update is Cephalid coliseum. In the light of "Brainstorm banning madness" in legacy I realized it cant be handled as a land, but as an effect very similar to Attunement. For some time I was thinking of a card which interacts Crucible of worlds in a manner which will work together with Panoramas. (Fetch, Draw and discard, Fetch again). Such "Russian roulette" effect based only on lands is bit unusual but might work well.

Offler

11-14-2011, 05:52 AM

Rimewind taskmage was tested again lately for its quite bit low reliability.

It can help to other wizards by untapping, or in combat as the one who taps enemy creature before combat phase.

In combo it requires specifically:
Pemmin's Aura/Freed from the real

and

Lotus Vale/Gilded Lotus

There are also other less possible scenarios including High Tide and Extraplanar lens at the same moment.

To start this combo the deck requires him in play, at least 4 snow lands and 5 free mana when casting Gilded Lotus.

Variation with Lotus Vale however requires 6 lands at least, while four of them are snow. This situation might be very complicated.

After some measurements and calculations was certain that even Wind Zendikon can ignite more combos and much earlier as this wizard. However in his position in the core of combo he cannot be just removed, he needs at least equal replacement.

Balduvian Frostwaker requires any snow land, Pemmins aura or Freed from the real, and works fine with Extraplanar lens or high tide. If he is already in play to start the combo its required always 5 mana, while the prerequisites for the start of combo are usually not very obvious and much less specific. Therefore i will replace him as soon as possible.

Edit:
Genju of the falls can trigger exactly same amount of combos with exactly same cards, bit faster and if destroyed it returns back to hand... Even when its not wizard it has to be considered...

Offler

11-27-2011, 07:30 AM

After another round of intensive testing:

Balduvian Frostwaker was very good in HL mode of the deck when oponnents have no general and only 20 life. Beating oponnent only with him and flying lands was quite fast even for me.

VS Kaalia of the Vast deck.

I was playing against new player so we were playing with revelaed hands. He won the die roll and began with land and Sol ring. I started with Island, keeping a brainstorm on hand.

Next turn he dropped Commander tower land and Crystal Ball. I brainstormed and I put into play tapped Teferi's Isle. He had 4 mana, and I only 1...

then he put into play Kaalia, while my Teferi''s Isle phased out and I was still manascrewed. Cantriping and tutoring on my hand was promise of possibility of collecting combo in 3 turns, however I had not enough time. At the turn when I was overwhelmed by the attacking creatures Combo was ready and nothing was in its way to start it - with the exception that I was already dead.

Have to find a way how to play stronger control. If one turn means difference between winning or losing I have to do some acceleration and strenghten control a bit.

Also new cards arrived. Venser, Shaper Savant and Reveka, Wizard Savant. Reveka can found great interactions with the rest of the deck, especially Freed from the Real or Pemmin's aura. Instead of Tim she can be Teferi's another lieutenant (alternate general). Venser in such position can be used for storm cards, but I dont use any of them, so he will be most likely using only his own ability... But this is in conflict with Torpor Orb.

Offler

12-06-2011, 03:29 AM

finally have Braingeyser and Stroke of genius.

Most people here surely noticed that this deck is not centered around Teferi, but around Mind over matter. Each "draw a card" wizard in my deck form a two card combo with it... However there is another way how to start a combo with it.

When deck contains enough cards like Stroke of Genius, Braingeyser, Blue Sun's Zenith and has some permanents like Lotus Vale or Gilded lotus it can easily turn discarding into mana, and then single mana can be turned into single card...

Those X card drawings can be used either to spend infinite mana or to ignite combo.

Train of thought can be used for draining infinite mana, but it gives only single card for 2 mana. Out with it, and place Braingeyser instead.

Blue sun's zenith is already in deck and its reshuffling ability makes the chances of getting another "draw X" higher. Also Azami, Lady of Scrolls and Sphinx of Magosi have interaction of their own with MOM. Azure Mage and Diviner's Wand dont. Just have to find place for Stroke of genius.

Also the tutoring... Muddle the Mixture, Drift of Phantasms and Recall increase chances of casting those spells again, Echo mage and Sigil tracer also give oportunity to copy that spell...

Edit:
First tests seems great. I no longer need to discard Mind over Matter in mulligan. I can keep in on hand. Pingers were removed and Hinder with Spell Crumple have been added - as more adequate solution to troublesome generals. Also Scroll rack ... it provided additional possibility how to search for another "draw X" card which interacts with Mind Over Matter. Two cards on hand needed just to ignite the combo. Also landbase was adjusted, so now I have enough mana while still manaflood is not ocurring.

Offler

12-13-2011, 10:16 AM

Blue sun's zenith proven very useful in last games. Multiple ways of making more than 1 mana per tap allows Mind over matter to increase its efficiency with similar spells.

Only minor changes in deck.
Oboro, Palace in the Clouds back. Minamo removed. Interacts with Mind over matter. When Lotus Vale/gilded lotus in game can bounce itself for 1 colorless mana, then discarded via Mind Over Matter.

Petrified field can feed the combo in similar way if untapped and any land is in grave.

Urza's Factory has replaced Riptide Laboratory.

The deck start to work as a chain reaction. Once Mind over matter is in play many cards interact with each other producing combos which seems quite random.

Offler

02-08-2012, 03:49 AM

As the lands in this deck have good tutoring they have great possibilities it was just a matter of time to add some cards able to finish up the game...

Temple bell was tested previously as a possibility of infinite draw, until it was stopped by Krosan grip upon its activation. Mikokoro, center of the sea does not have this disadvantage, just because its not an Artifact, but still can be activated immediatelly after entering the battlefield.

When compared to Archivist, Mikokoro is much easier to be found. Archivist works with universal tutoring, and from special tutoring only with Vedalken Aethermage. Any land works also with Tolaria West, Petrified Field and Expedition map.

Will replace Archivist quite soon.

Aether Vial still gives mixed results...

Conjurer's Bauble is one of the few cards which can help me to refill my library, but only for infinite mana and with Academy ruins. Else it can still return from grave to library a card, or let me draw 1 card for 1 colorless.

Torpor orb to be replaced with Grafdigger's Cage. Not as powerful, but great card also.

Offler

02-20-2012, 05:14 AM

The recent presence of Wheel of fortune in metagame forced me to think about discarding. Generally tutoring cannot be done with this especially when it reocurrs too often. Most of combo pieces end up in grave.

Library of leng is kind of solution which might help. Not only to prevent being discarded, but interacts well with some cards such as Tolarian Winds, Attunement, Magus of the Bazaar, any standard blue Looting and of course Obsessive search with MOM. I think that position of Aether Vial has been finally shaken.

Offler

03-20-2012, 03:51 AM

Balduvian Frostwaker proven good when it comes to decks which have no ability to destroy anything on table, but most people here love Wrath of god in any of its form. Since Snow-covered Islands are the backbone of my mana sources I cannot afford the risk.

Searching for a creature which will have similar ability ended quite early - Karn, Silver Golem. When he animates Gilded Lotus or Khalni Gem they can be then easily used for combo. Also 0/8 wall or 4/4 creature is still good choice no matter whether its legendary artifact he can be reanimated via Academy ruins. However most of my artifacts has CMC 0 and 1...

Also Grafdiggers cage is not available to me, but Tormod's Crypt is.

edit: Karn with proper help can destroy oppnents lands...

Offler

04-16-2012, 06:55 AM

Since i removed pingers and have replaced them with Sigil tracer and Echo mage the deck seem to have better resistance against burning decks.

However two types of decks are becoming more common enemy. Kaalia of the Vast and Karador.

First deck is able to put creatures into play without casting them for mana. Even now angels like Iona or red Akroma can mean fast end of the game. At that point my mana based control stopped to work. With new Avacyn angels even Nevinyrrals disk cannot be considered as a mass solution.

Even when I had enough flying creatures (such as Vendilion clique, Magosi sphinx, or Vexing sphinx) I could not compete the raw power of the dragons, angels or demons.

Tapping a creature can be a solution how to effectively block it regardless of power, and most of abilities. Fatestitcher can be used for this purpose. Upcoming Tamyio also can partially do such job. Vodalian illusionist has greatest potential among all since it completely remove the creature - and solves even those which have passive ability.

Now after graveborn most solutions are only temporary - no matter of tapping, phasing-out or destroying the creatures and buying extra time to complete the combo is harder. The difference is only in amount of mana or cards required to restore previous situation.

Also Sower of temptation looks very nice when it comes to cards such as Avacyn, however single destruction card can kill it instantly.

Edit: As most players, even I misunderstood Barrin, Master wizard. I just thought there are better bouncers, but Gilded drake Brought me to different solution. Drop drake, steal Avacyn. Drop Barrin. pay 2, sacrifice avacyn, bounce gilded drake. Also possible with Sower of temptation. And of course he can selfbounce - at a price...

edit2: Avacyn restored
Since my deck is Wizard tribal having Cavern of souls is almost automatical decision. combined with Teferi... whoa now the fun begins.

Offler

04-24-2012, 05:45 AM

So lets mention some new blue cards...

Captain of the Mists
Wizard with tapping/untapping, for its own tap while the ability costs 1U. Result: Needs Tolarian Academy, Doubling cube while being untapped by other enchantment/wizard/soulboud paired creature.

Galvanic Alchemist
Same potential as Vigean Graftmage without most of graft imperfections, but again. Needs Tolarian academy or Doubling cube to work.

Most cards I use balance between combo usage and usage as a single card without any other purpose. Those two cards are very close to this definition, but i am unsure whether they fulfill it.

Also Cavern of Souls. If the wizards intended to ruin EDH they did it... I just cant wait when it will be banned :D

Survivor has been superceded by presence of instants and sorceries which draw X cards. Grimoire thief partially by Mikokoro, Blinkmoth nexus and same drawing spells. Glen Elendra can solve or threaten players when they want to play noncreature spells. Avacyn mechanics mostly say that she is obsolete.

Adding Instants and sorceries for card drawing helped me to start main MOM combo from a scratch. I just need to play Mind Over Matter, discard hand, cast one of these spells and work.

Humility, Damping Matrix and many similar enemy cards I met are now officialy considered as solved problem.

Next problem - Iona. It has been cast once against my deck. By chance I already had Aphetto alchemist in play, Rings of Brighthearth and Gilded Lotus on hand. Last part of solution was Senseis Divining top which allowed me to draw, until I found Diviners wand, equipped aphetto alchemist with it and attacked...

Sigil Tracer, Echo mage and Doubling Cube. all these three cards can multiply amount of cards i can draw with Stroke of genius for example. They just do it in different way. Previously i was playing doubling cube in combo, but its better to have artifact which produces multiple blue mana per tap - especially when igniting mind over matter combo. The question however is whether its better to have High tide/Extraplanar lens or Doubling cube...

High tide is almost untutorable for me. Extraplanar lens is limited to Snow-covered Island s only. None of those cards interacts with Karn, Silver golem and Aphetto Alchemist, but Doubling cube does and its not limited to ice age lands...

Declaration of naught
Evil isnt it. Pure existence of this card cannot be reason of printing such thing as Cavern of souls is. There have been lands with similar abilities previously. Boseiju, Who Shelters all.

Offler

06-01-2012, 06:03 AM

Few days ago I had strange play

Teferi came to play at the end of oponnents turn. I enchanted him with Pemmin's Aura, pumped him to 6/1...

He was able to swing oponnent 3 times before he decided to flush the table. I never thought about such usage of general in this deck and result was quite a surprise for me.

However most other methods of giving shroud and evasion ability are too vulnerable. At all interesting game.

Edit:
Soratami Savant should be added to improve mana lock with orbs.

Offler

06-08-2012, 06:10 AM

Since I pursue some kind of "wizard flavour" in this deck I was always willing to add into this deck as many wizard races as possible. Reason why I am still thinking about one single reason to add any "Bird wizard" (such as Aven Windreader), but most of them are quite obsolete. Mana cost like Sphinx and size like Faerie...

Same fate has met also the race of Moonfolks, althought every time I reviewed them I was always able to found new usage for them in this deck.

Meloku, the clouded mirror
He was shortly in deck. Few times with help of Winter orb able to cause almost decisive advantage over opponent. As a standalone wizard he can provide some boucing games with Halimar depths, as most moonfolks.

Floodbringer
With winter orb he can cause a serious oponnent lock.

Soratami Savant
Mana Leak for 3 if you have enough mana and/or lands. Usually gets burned too early, or oponnents are ready to mana clashes.

Soratami Seer and Uyo, Silent prophet
Uyo is quite big flying creature able to copy spells. Including enemy spells. He is in same class as Sigil tracer and Echo mage. As the combo based on Mind over matter is running, he can be dropped for discarding 2 or 3 cards, and copy upcoming Stroke of genius for another discard.

Math is simple. lose 4-5 cards from hand in exchange of more cards to be drawn. Stroke of Genius must be then able to draw 6 or more cards. Sigil tracer can do the same for almost same cost re-calculated to amount of discarded cards, while both require to have a draw spell on the stack.

Its incredible for me to found that Soratami Seer can do this for 1 less card, without draw spell on the stack... The bouncing of lands in situation of starting MOM combo will help to decrease the price...

At all it seems I have to rethink some slots in deck to add some of them into the deck. Mostly it seems that Echo mage will be replaced by bigger flying moonfolk, and there should be some place for Soratami Seer. Most probably in some non-combo cantrip position.

Standalone the soratami seer lets you discard/draw whole hand, and adds 2 new cards on your hand. Thats pretty good for 4 mana cost, while the bouncing is some strange form of cost... Especially in long games when you have 12+ lands. He does the same as when you activate Trade routes twice both abilities, for exactly same cost and discards/draw the hand at the same time.

Offler

06-18-2012, 05:57 AM

New combo based on Pemmins aura/Freed from the real:
Caged Sun+Faerie conclave+Pemmins aura

Or any other manland able to produce at least single blue mana. However not viable for my deck simply because of its CMC.

Damping matrix became very dangerous weapon against most combo decks in our playgroup. When I realized that even Nevynirrals disk and Oblivion stone are not able to shut it down I was quite surprised at fact that most used colorless destruction is also useless.

Adding Stroke of genius, Braingeyser and Blue sun's zenith was due Damping matrix, Humility and other cards which disable abilities good choice, not mentioning fact that I can start MOM combo "from hand".

This leads me to Recall and Snapcaster mage. These are only two cards able to re-play cards from graveyard. Last play against Oona, Queen of the Fae convinced me that 3 drawing spells with X in cost, and two gravedigging cards are not enough, not even when I play Selfmilling in order to save them from removal.

Call to mind and Relearn are back to play, especially when Transmute artifact was not as good as expected. Both those cards do not affect amount of cards on hand - especially when comparing to Recall, which is removed after casting, and even Snapcaster which leaves hand and enters battlefield.

Any other card allows re-casting of instant or sorcery spell automatically improves combo and any other such spell. Tutoring, counterspelling and all such spells are then giving bit more consistent results.

Cantriping no matter of method seems to work fine at least. Senseis divining top and Scroll rack work great with current tutoring methods (due shuffling of library) and even Bant Panorama with Esper panorama are most useful at shuffling, while keeping amount of lands in library under control. Grixis panorama is most probably on the way back to the deck. Cephalid coliseum also saved my life many times - even when sacrificing life for using it as mana source, or saving recently tutored card from top of the library.

The deck finally allows to prepare two combos at same time, while one is dropped visibly under the nose of oponnents, and other is being prepared on hand and thats how it should work.

Offler

06-25-2012, 05:45 AM

Minor updates:

Blinkmoth nexus was removed and Magosi, the Waterveil was added. Secondary plan for combo ignition.
Everflowing chalice has been also re-considered. Its mana storaging feature will be taken by Saprazzan cove and/or Sand Silos, while mana boost will be provided by Expedition map. Those two lands have been proven useful with Winter orb seasons...

Echo mage remains in the deck.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage will be added to the deck as soon as possible.
+1 ability is very useful since it acts same as my tapper wizards - either locks mana, or prevent creatures from attacking.
-2 drawing spell for 5 cmc at sorcery speed which will most likely provide more than 3 cards when properly cast. No matter if Tamiyo survives or not.
-8 Alternative to Elixir of Immortality. Bit more complicated but with immensely more strenght.

Mana web this evil artifact once again got my attention when in all recent games Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth entered battlefield.

Barrin, master wizard has proven useful, but to be really functional it needs Gilded drake or Sower of temptation. In singleton format its not very viable... Stealing of creatures was also aspect which I found most interesting. However when it came to cards like Damping Matrix or Humility I was still stuck in a lock (unless MOM+Stroke was ignited successfully). At all he will most probably leave this deck and other control mechanic will take place.

As long I want to play Tamiyo's ultimate ability bit more protection is required. Opposition is one possibility. However most likely it will be activated during combo. There are few methods. Viral drake, Inexorable tide or more likely Clockspinning which can be used to keep enemy planeswalkers under control... Other way is infinite turns - which is Savor the Moment or Magosi, The Waterveil already.

However there is one drawback... Tamiyo is almost intutorable in my deck.

Offler

06-27-2012, 05:49 AM

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Ok, lets check how can be this planeswalker used in this specific EDH deck.

+1 Tap target permanent. It does not untap during next untap step.

For 5 mana Tamiyo acts exactly same as Icy Manipulator with only slight difference - at sorcery speed. Tapping enemy permanents (lands creatures, combo parts, whatever) is obvious. But how can be this ability transformed?

Check Static orb. I can tap it, pass the turn to the oponnent, allow him to untap, then I untap also and the orb will remain untapped - with its locking function enabled again. This used to work also with Winter orb, but suddenly it disappeared from gatherer text.

With help of certain cards this ability can do much more. Fallowsage, Betrayal, Grimoire thief, Psychic venom and Stinging licid provide interesting possibilities.

-2 Draw card for each tapped creature target player controls:
It can be me, or any other player in game. At 5 CMC Tidings offers 4 new cards at sorcery speed. Player still may cast this planeswalker, use his second ability and dont care if Tamiyo survives next turns or not. If your deck contain a bunch of wizards with tap ability, or your deck has spells with "tap all" function potential of this ability is greatly improved.

-8 You get an emblem with "You have no maximum hand size" and "Whenever a card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, you may return it to your hand."

Combo with Mind over Matter to produce a lot of mana is obvious. Similar combos are with cards like Dark Ritual or Pyretic Ritual, Lotus petal maybe. Less obvious possibilites offers Turnabout.

This ability combines Spellbook, Library of Leng, Feldon's Cane or Elixir of Immortality with many other cards in really strange manner - making this deck even more powerful.

Survival...
A planeswalker with ultimate ability which threatens player with infinite combo is something that most oponnents wont let to happen, so she will surely attact a lot of attention when in play. Also its quite questionable if oponnent will try to attack her if its probable that she survives will draw a lot of cards...

Teferi himself offers possibility to jump into play, and blocks someone to save Tamiyo. Venser, Shaper savant offer similar possibility with selfbouncing. Other similar creatures with "selfbouncing" ability will most likely need Flying and Teferi's "Flash". Shrieking drake, and Mist Raven are fulfilling this requirement...

Rest has to be assured with multiple tapping effects...

Edit:
Tamiyo has replaced Ertai, Wizard adept in position of direct threat which has to be stopped once hits the table. She was able to tap and hold enemy Cabal Coffers which was at that time his main mana source. My combo piece - Freed from the Real was then used on oponnents Primeval titan. this costed my oponnent a lot of his mana and ability to attack Tamiyo.

I also placed into deck Reveka, Wizard savant and Suq'ata firewalker, but without sucess. I forgot to remove Gilded drake and place Meekstone in the deck but when he has stolen general 2x yesterday and once Sheoldred, whispering one i am really reconsidering it :).

Offler

07-02-2012, 05:08 AM

Combination of Tamiyo, Static orb and Fatestitcher resulted in softlock which blocked oponnent from attacking and playing spells. A lot of time for Tamiyo to grow. Maybe its a good time to return Rimewind Taskmage back to deck. Tamiyo was also used in similar manner with Winter orb. Also in games where such lock did not happened she attracted a lot of attention. Definitely a PW worth playing.

Also I was re-considering the Tormod's crypt, Relic of Progenitus. The main reason why i added Crypt was fact that there is a lot of reanimators and I can return it to play using Academy ruins quite easy. Relic was re-tested due its ability to remove one card per turn, however it exiles itself from the game once used for his second ability - and thus cannot be returned.

Tamiyo partially solved one weakness of the deck - There is only single card which reshuffle the grave into the library - Elixir of Immortality. Once Tamiyo activates its last ability I do not need to care about it, but still if Elixir is somehow removed from the game I can have serious problem.

There was a suggestion for some instant or sorcery spell which can reshuffle grave to library in order to stop reanimator combos and replace Crypt with it. There is such spell at instant speed - Mnemonic Nexus.

The truth is that this instant can be used both for stopping reanimator combo, and returning all my library back for my own combo reasons.

Tormods crypt can be returned by exactly two cards - Recall and Academy ruins.
Mnemonic nexus can be returned back by 3 cards - Recall, Snapcaster, Call to mind.
Relic of progenitus cannot be re-animated at all in my deck...

Recently added Call to mind solves the main problem with Mnemonic nexus - the fact it does not reshuffle itself. And there is still possibility to add Relearn or better Archaeomancer in near future.

This might really improve deck consistency...

Also pinger wizards were not as sucessful. Recent removal of Ertai and also Glen Elendra resulted in bit weaker control. Therefore those two slots will be filled by Venser and Glen elendra again.

Offler

07-10-2012, 05:21 AM

Few spells became really dangerous to this deck in few games.

Decree of Pain for cycling
Qasali Pridemage or cards based on Viridian Zealot type.

Currently I play only two cards able to affect abilities. Its Pithing needle and Willbender.

Current changes:
Tormod's Crypt and Elixir of Immortality were removed.
Mnemonic Nexus and Reminisce were added.

New spells both have ability to clear enemy graveyard while reshuffle my library back.

Therefore Syncopate and Dissipate whose carried removal are not as needed. Trickbind and Voidmage husher may replace them soon. The question is whether the deck needs more countering spells or abilities, since removal is not needed anymore.

Edit:
4 out of 6 players I am commonly playing with added Cabal Coffers and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Most advanced ramp also had Oracle of Mul-Daya with Knight of the Reliquary, all of them has Primeval Titan. When the player also bounced his coffers with Ravnica bounceland, and Oracle of mul-daya allowed him to cast it again untapped i was sure that this situation cannot be controlled even by 6 wizards (while one of them is Patron wizard). However... the player during play repeated many times that he is Manascrewed. Colorscrewed is the better word since he had a lot of black mana, but not enough white and green. Even with 30+ mana his only possibility to deal damage was Sheoldred due his swampwalk...

These are only few pointless ramps I am playing against. Metagame changed overnight...

I believe that I have better possibility to utilize their mana... Even when black/colorless. Because i removed a lot of artifacts Artificer's Intuition became obsolete.

Vedalken Plotter
Sunder

Will most likely help those players to choose strategy more wisely..

Offler

07-16-2012, 06:01 AM

Sigil tracer and Echo mage proved very useful when copying enemy tutors. Generally it allowed me to complete the combo much sooner as anticipated.

Also Rings of Brighthearth which has somel infinite combos within the deck has proven useful when copied Esper panorama and allowed me to ramp a bit... Seems not as viable like Crucible of worlds but quite effective... At all the deck itself has still a lot of hidden potential which I have to uncover...

Artificer's Intuition was replaced by Doubling cube
Azure mage has been replaced by Rimewind taskmage

Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar
Another alternate general found. He allows to draw much more effectively and also if I draw more cards in my library i will not lose the game because it replaces draw effect.

Offler

07-30-2012, 08:09 AM

Minor improvements:
Witchbane orb removed. In my current meta it worked only against cards like. Did not worked as intended

Rhystic study back in deck. New weapon of mass sleep - Meekstone. Will see.

Offler

08-02-2012, 06:12 AM

Karn, Silver golem and Doubling cube are not working as intended.

0/8 blocker was not as useful as i hoped. Too many dragons, angels, demons around here... Same is true for Echo mage.

The deck also lacks the power of flying which is native to many blue decks, and also the deck became often target of random land destruction. So...

Crucible of worlds is going back to deck along with Wasteland. Esper Panorama and Bant Panorama will still offer enough possibility to play a land every turn.

There are few ways how to add flying creatures to the deck.
Talrand, Sky summoner recently brought new idea of a general. This deck contains 23 instants and sorceries...
Meloku The Clouded Mirror also brings flying creatures while bouncing a land
Genju of the Falls brings possibility to transform a land into creature - even by the means of combo, while returns from the graveyard.
Balduvian frostwaker In ideal situation he dealt more than 20 damage...

The question is how many lands I can sacrifice, bounce, lose in combat and/or how many spells will be cast before Talrand leaves the battlefield.

Well. Talrand is 2/2... No combo potential. Meloku is 2/4, while bouncing a land while creating a token is worth it - especially if I can discard that land for 3 mana, or there is Winter orb in play.

So:
Karn will be replaced by Genju of the falls
Echo mage by Crucible of worlds
Doubling cube by Wasteland

Offler

08-16-2012, 04:59 AM

I was looking for a way how to add "battle" wizards into this deck. Since I was completely ignoring any combat damage for some time this is something that can be fixed a bit.

Previously the deck contained Vexing Sphinx, Coralhelm commander and this with combination of Wind zendikon was enough to kill non-flying decks.

a) does toughness matter? Well not much. Format is full with Swords to plowshares, Crib swap, Path to exile, and all possible variations of Doom blade

b) How much power per creature? Blue has a long history with 3/1 creatures such as Cloud spirit.

c) CMC? Creature designed only to attack. at CMC 3 with same P/T there is a wizard - Vendilion Clique. Previously I also mentioned that Crookclaw Transmuter has similar stats, and bit worse CMC. On same level is also Soratami Mirror-guard.

If is somebody as scared that he destroys any one of those three creatures, then I may play with better feeling that at least one of destroy spells has been removed from opponnents hand.

Sigil tracer caused combo to ignite only twice - Clique...
Gilded drake good at stealing the generals, but since this is not Barrin, Master wizard[cards] EDH deck the slot will be re-used for Soratami...
[cards]Rhystic study Indeed great card for multiplayer, destroyed by my co-player? When he also decided to pay extra mana I was really amazed. Crookclaw transmuter is much more raw...

Malchar

08-16-2012, 07:20 AM

I'm not sure if you've already considered this, but you could try phyrexian metamorph. It only costs 1 more than phantasmal image, and you can also copy artifacts like gilded lotus or umezawa's jitte.

They were used for creating copies of endangered permanents or copying enemy creatures, but later was certain than its bit useless. It was more effective to add another permanent with same mechanic as I wanted to copy instead of having clones...

My current experience however shows, that deck is missing something crucial... I am not sure whether its a card, or it just needs different strategy...

Adding creatures for attacking... I am just responding to primitive need of my playgroup, and I fear it will weaken the deck. On the other hand the deck does not play many cards. They are cast when they are needed, and not splashed into play as a decoy.

The truth is that after some changed during last 6 months I miss flying wizards in play a lot.

Offler

08-20-2012, 06:13 AM

Finally i re-considered my choices.

Gilded drake will be replaced by Cephalid Illusionist

Rest will remain as is now. Preventing damage by other wizard is small improvement against combat oriented decks. If targeted the discard effect can be considered as advantage - remember Cephalid breakfast.

I also finally found a monoblue EDH/Highlander variation of Cephalid breakfast. It consists of:
Cephalid illusionist or Cephalid Aristocrat
Lightning Greaves or Umbral Mantle or Shuko + another creature in play (for the greaves)
Laboratory Maniac
Deep Analysis, Cephalid coliseum, Mikokoro, Center of the Sea or any drawing...

(from what I understand "Equip" is a targeted ability)

And definitely - it should be not as hard to place some of those cards into the deck.

Offler

08-23-2012, 03:36 AM

Ok. Finally arrived few new cards to my collection:

Opposition - I believe that this is that crucial piece I was looking for a long time. Just here was bit hard to obtain a copy.

Thawing Glaciers - it took the slot of Armillary sphere. The sphere was great since 2 lands on hand is good - not even it can be considered as good ramp, but also drawing for combo/discard reasons. The Glaciers are similar. "Reusable fetchland", with selfbounce at the end of turn - still good for discarding reasons :)

Cephalid Illusionist replaced Gilded Drake
His primal function will be self milling and decoy. I believe that even here have people heard about Cephalid Breakfast.

First post updated and cards replaced. :)

I also obtained a copy of italian Mana Drain at a very good price. Just wondering where to place it :)

Offler

08-28-2012, 08:01 AM

Opposition is really good in this deck. With static orb I was able to lock games down while keep myself untapped. Thawing Glaciers also obsoleted Crucible of worlds. With SDT and/or Scroll rack the searching for combo parts is easier as any before.

Flash of Insight replaced Petals of Insight. Both cards can be used for infinite mana, but only Flash can be used along with Mind over matter - especially for its flashback cost while stripping grave of some unnecessary cards.

This usage of discarding or removing cards took my attention when I found Turbulent dreams and Sickening dreams if i would add black... Not bad indeed.

Diviner's Wand back in deck. CMC 3, Wizard tribal and Artifact makes it almost universal tutoring target which can be used for infinite draw. Few times I was stuck with infinite mana, and Fabricate on hand - so much for this...

Also one explanation:

Arcanis the Omnipotent < Urza's Blueprints means that first card is in deck in it "casual mode" while the second is in its "competetive mode".

Offler

09-05-2012, 05:19 AM

Brainstorming about some blue cards for this deck

Soratami Savant
Forms a lock with Static orb and Winter orb along with manasources with 2 mana per tap. I mentioned it previously but I never added it in the deck.

Since Opposition and Static orb also form a lock a control which will be based around those cards should solve a lot of problems - if not too centralized.

Current control contain some instants (more or less powerful), Patron Wizard which is used to make things more expensive in early game stage, Voidmage prodigy which is one of the few "hard counters" which does not require oponnent to pay any amount of mana and there are also Voidmage Husher, Venser, Shaper Savant and Glen Elendra Archmage and Willbender which is cheap low mana wizard with really good ability.

Venser is needed due his bounce ability, Husher due his selfbouncing. Only Glen Elendra does not have any unique function within deck and does not cooperate with static/winter orb in any manner.

The question is if there is enough wizards with counterspelling ability, which does not require tap, or sacrifice, only mana... And no - Hisoka, Minamo Sensei is not the right choice - althought he cooperates with SDT, Scroll rack the discarding at certain CMC for 3 mana is too weak compared to Counterbalance

edit: To Kombatkiwi
Maybe :D I just find useful to write on forum some thoughts about deckbuilding. Later when I re-check them, it helps me to find potential which was previously not as obvious.

kombatkiwi

09-05-2012, 08:52 AM

Is this a source record for "highest percentage of posts in a single thread by an individual forum user?"

Offler

09-19-2012, 05:42 AM

RTR:
Generally this set brings a bit of despair to this deck. Mainly because of "Cant be countered" mechanic, which directly makes large part of the control unusable, and combo more vulnerable.

However none of them can affect global spell which destroy all creatures, or counter a creature spell for example.

Better solution brings Mindbreak trap which always was and always will be good "counterspell". Time stop is similar, but really not as good spell... However Venser, Shaper savant can in this case only buy some time...

Edit:
Been searching for a card which is big bad as any Eldrazi, but not worthy target for Bribery. I found it. Jokulmorder. Really hard to play in other as monoblue.

Offler

10-26-2012, 04:13 AM

By accident I forget to remove Genju of the falls from the deck and it caused at least three victories, while Rimewind taskmage none. Genju as one of the cards which returns from grave is after Blue sun's zenith, and Fatestitcher third card in combo with returning ability - very useful in singletons.

Finally I got one copy of ultrarare common - Archaeomancer - and its going to replace Call to mind

Edit:
As the Genju of the Falls helped to win again, its meaning start to grow a lot within the deck. Therefore I have to re-consider some minor changes. Genju works only with lands with subtype Island. Other cards just cannot be enchanted with it. High tide, Extraplanar lens, Gauntlet of power and Caged sun do the trick. two of them are already in deck, but adding 3rd might be complicated.

Offler

11-14-2012, 05:50 AM

In the past I was testing Blinkmoth nexus and Mishra's Factory. Both of these cards can be used for infinite mana with infinite untapping to grow really big and then attack for a lot of damage. When compared to Mikokoro, Center of the sea they were not able to kill all opponents at once and required attack phase. At all having kill condition well hidden among lands is quite good.

Few days ago i started to analyze new variation of infinite mana combo. Faerie Conclave and Caged Sun with Freed from the real can in fact provide infinite mana.

High tide is limited to Islands.
Extraplanar lens is limited to Snow-covered Islands by their name.
Gauntlet of Power is also limited to basic lands only.
Caged sun does not have these limitations.

There is few blue/colorless cards which can change land subtype. For example:
Unstable frontier
Grixis Illusionist
Reef Shaman
Dream Thrush

Each of them erase all abilities which the land previously had, and some of them can also affect enemy lands. Tapping Dream Thrush in oponnents upkeep to turn Cabal coffers into any basic land is really nice trick in our metagame - especially when I play cards like Winter Orb

This means that I can animate Mishra's Factory, turn it into Creature - Island, cast High tide and enchant it with Freed from the Real in order to create infinite mana. But in this case the Factory cannot be used to pump itself into big creature since it does no longer has its ability to pump Assembly workers. And here exactly is the catch...

At all still those two lands can be used separately in two versions of the same combo with Pemmins Aura or Freed from the real as the centerpiece, and enabled to produce more mana by High tide and Dream Thrush. Combo requires 4 pieces to collect, and fifth to use up all the mana. Usually 4 cards is on the edge when it comes to collecting combo. I am not sure whether its worth it, even in case if I use Reef Shaman and Dream Thrush for controlling my opponent.

Tests with Genju of the Falls on other hand are extremely good. Adding Caged sun into deck with Faerie conclave is more probable. But what to remove?

Cephalid illusionist does not work as intended. Even when this card slot is reserved for CMC 2 Wizard I may have to reconsider it. Most probable is now Vedalken Mastermind.

However still no free slot for caged sun...

Offler

11-21-2012, 05:47 AM

Last changes:
Reminisce removed and replaced by Elixir of Immortality. Self reshuffling for free is much better.

Rewind and Mana drain became part of casual version of the deck, while Force of will and Spell burst are their replacements in non-casual variant. Rewind and mana drain work as some sort of mana sources while rewind has interaction with Tamiyo's ultimate ability. Spell burst can be cast in early stage of the game, while with infimite mana works same as Rewind with Tamiyo.

Cavern of souls is in casual variation of the deck. I thought that this land will be overplayed in this format, but I was wrong. Instead I met more decks with Isochron scepter and 40 CMC 2 counterspells in decks - which are in my opinion boring. Since non-casual variant has less wizards it may be replaced by Petrified field

Vedalken mastermind killed 2 opponents with combat damage... because someone cast Worldfire... Well casual fun, but even in these cases I prefer to follow banlists :)

Enter the infinite
8UUUU
Sorcery
Draw cards equal to your library. Put one card from your hand on top of your library. You have no maximum hand size until your next turn.

Probably the first card I would like to place into this deck immediately after reading a spoiler. Combo with Mind over Matter is obvious, also in this deck can be even hardcasted for mana. It will most probably replace Braingeyser or Flash of Insight, while Flash of insight has better probability to stay in deck for its flashback cost. After creation of the Eldrazi Wotc finally came with sorcery which has similar power level in certain decks., besides it shows middle finger to "official" club here with their really bad house rules.

Offler

01-02-2013, 09:44 AM

Finally got a copy of Caged sun, so lets compare it with Extraplanar Lens.

Lenses are able to work with Freed from the real or Pemmins aura, but it does not work with Rings of Brighthearth or Vigean Graftmage.

Since Caged sun enables Rings of Brighthearth and Vigean graftmage for all nonbasic lands which already produce at least two mana (3 lands), the chance of completing the combo is much higher. For Fatestitcher 3 and for Tidewater minion 6 more possibilities.

2 extra possibilities it offers when i add Faerie conclave and Seat of synod also offers another 2 combos with Aphetto alchemist. Well, the amount of possibilities is growing a lot with this card... Currently 13 and I have not event think of more complicated solutions with abilities which turn manland into Island Manland. All combos which were provided by Extraplanar lens remain intact.

On the other hand, it requires exactly twice as mana to be cast, but its reanimation with Academy ruins and re-playing will be much less painful.

Well, it has been some time since I was trying to fix the mana, and the Lenses were part of the solution. However, very irritating solution as I found. Lens was very often target for any kinds of destruction.

I own Mana Crypt for some time but I was not willing to play it. Since it costs 0 its easy to drop it while MOM combo is running just to improve amount of mana per discard for x costs...

Well, it seems that Caged sun will finally be part of the deck.

Offler

01-22-2013, 05:38 AM

Gatecrash has been completely spoiled so lets comment some cards from the perspective of this deck.

Enter the Infinite - great potential in this specific deck. Costs 4 blue mana, but it should not be a problem in monoblue. Total cost 12 makes it easy open hand refusal. Its function within Mind over Matter combo is pretty obvious. However when drawn during the game, keeping whole library on hand for one turn can be very risky. Most probably will replace Braingeyser or Flash of Insight. However quite hard to tutor, and holds only limited possibility to be hardcasted in midgame - simply to draw cards.

Having in deck cards like Pact of negation, Force of will, Foil or Thwart shall help this card a lot. At all - quite unfun way to win :D

Incursion specialist - this deck hold some small potential in random creature beatdown. The key is to screw oponnents mana (trickbind on fetchland, use wasteland), and have strong control on hand/in play. Then cast few wizards - for example those with morph and attack with them. This is similar candidate for this position, however has no other interaction with the deck.

Rapid Hybridization - Pongify. More like this and I can build up mono blue removal :D

Sage's Row denizen - interesting. can turn blue wizardstorm into milling. Way better in blue/black reanimator deck, but has its interactions here.

Thespian's Stage - Easy. Just copy nonlegendary land with 2 or more mana per tap, and fix your mana a bit.

Illusionist's Bracers - works with tidewater minion and Aphetto alchemist in a separate combo. All other wizards who draw a card will produce up to twice as many cards. Does not require 2 to activate as Rings of Brighthearth and in some manner its as strong as Mind over matter in this deck. Once Azami and MOM is in play, those bracers say thay I dont need to cast Arcanis, and give him haste/Extra turn. I am looking for a free card slot again.

Offler

02-27-2013, 06:45 AM

Illusionist's Bracers

OK. Why post only about this single card. Because when I started to analyze it deeper with the possibilities of my deck I was quite surprised by some new possibilities.

Enclave Cryptologist
Not only you can draw/filter 2 cards, it also speeds up its leveling.

Patron wizard
Tapping a wizard is cost, while the resolution is done by him. Not bad at all

Azami, Lady of scrolls
Works same as patron wizard...

But this is only a taste of what the bracers can really do...

Tidewater minion
Target any land, and with copy of ability target Tidewater minion itself. Target any wizard who can draw card, and with copy minion... Losing defender twice is not so effective.

Aphetto alchemist
Almost same, but instead of lands it work with creatures who draw cards and with artifacts.

Why are those two cards with the Bracers so powerful? Well ... it allows 3 (in one case even 2 card, since I dont count land) card combo resulting in infinite mana, or infinite card draw.

Minamo, School at Water's Edge
More tricky one. To equip the land with the bracers you need turn it into land somehow. In my deck Wind zendikon can do this job. In more colored decks any Zendinkon or Genju of the Realm can do such stuff. There are also few green cards with same ability. Once done you need other legendary permanent which produce multiple mana, at least one blue. Caged sun can "enhance" Minamo itself. Teferi's isle is another possible solution.

too complicated and too few effects? Well once running, and you have plenty of mana, it can be used with Academy ruins or Mikokoro, Center of the sea or legendary creatures, such as Azami. Still the combo requires 2 spells, and one ability to ignite, while one or more lands may be passively waiting as normal manasources. Not bad if you like to build up combo "from nothing"...

Deserted temple has almost same potential. Definitely I am going to get one.

Bracers have proven themselves to be as good as Mind over Matter. As always you just need the right cards to interact.

doc_brietz

03-05-2013, 06:05 PM

If you have a current decklist or something that can be downloaded, that would be awesome. I am working on a similar deck myself.

I do not have all the expensive counters yet, though. I also play only online.

Offler

03-07-2013, 05:01 AM

I have only the list on the first post of this topic. I have just updated it (bracers)

The list contain both casual and competetive variation of this deck. However, i agree that even casual variation of this deck contain Mana Drain which is far from cheap... You can use plain counterspell instead.

Offler

04-09-2013, 05:56 AM

Ok. Lets do some update again...

Hinder and Spell Crumple will be moved to other deck so I am looking for replacements. Forbid was the first candidate, however second slot is still not replaced yet. Maybe Torpor orb...

Forbid may cause additional need for drawing. So Thought courier will be replaced by Keeper of the Mind, while Magus of the Bazaar will remain in deck. Also Keeper of the Mind contain another set of possibilities for combo.

Trickster mage is another long forgotten card. A card which was also affected by Illusionist's Bracers in very special manner. Her effect is very similar to Mind over Matter but need of additional mana and untapping makes it almost not viable. Even Pemmin's aura is usable only in very complicated manner, but the bracers made things much more easier. She can be untapped via her own ability, so you just need a lot of cards, and proper mana source... As she works with lands, creatures and artifacts, her usage within the deck is almost unlimited, so combination with Bracers turns both of them into "poor man's Mind over Matter". Most likely will replace Genju of the Falls.

If you are reanimator you can simply discard your hand for U per card, while targetting her with her own ability. Or with Bracers you can turn your cards into mana (if you have at least Coral atoll for example)... That is interesting if you already cast Enter the Infinite, but you have only one U free...

Also fetched a copy of Thespian's Stage and it will replace Bant panorama or Thawing glaciers.

Still thinking to add pinger wizards such as Tim or Reveka, Wizard savant.

Edit:
Small change... Martyr of Frost replaced by Vanishing. Reconsidering Pulse of the Grid...
Hinder to be replaced by Mindbreak trap. Higher CMC, but able to solve Abrupt decays or multiple spells on stack at once.

Offler

05-06-2013, 05:27 AM

Soratami Savant. Rarely sees play, not being tutored, and most opponents I play against have Cabal coffers...

Sensei's Divining top is one of the cards which is constantly being haunted by banhammer. Never because of combos, everytime because of making play too long... In my deck it works pretty well as standalone card, but its accompanied by Counterbalance, and even if banned I still play Scroll rack and Soldevi Excavations. (This card has proven very useful when was copied, and being untapped 2x per turn).

These three cards represent good base for Counterbalance, but there are two other card which can benefit in similar way. Future Sight and Magus of the Future. Both Magus and Future sight represent good form of acceleration especially when you need to keep cards on hand - Playing lands from top of your library for example. Top, Rack or Excavations represent perfect interaction, even when I am not going to play Top+Future Sight+Helm of Awakening storm combo again.

-Soratami Savant + Magus of the Future

Offler

05-15-2013, 03:29 AM

Tests with Magus were very successful. With Senseis top and infinite mana works really well as alternate drawing engine.

You just need permanent with enough mana per tap... Could be very interesting in blue/red storm decks, with Melek, or Riku...

Also tests with Future sight and Magus of the future were very sucessfull. Even Darksteel Pedant allowed one extra victory.

First post updated a bit...

Offler

06-18-2013, 05:15 AM

- Mnemonic Nexus + Thran foundry

Maze's End
The mythic rare i opened in my fatpack... Is it useless in this deck? Well. I certainly cant play any gates...

I used to play both Esper Panorama and Bant Panorama to drop them and fetch when the time was right. The best time for this was when I had Counterbalance with STD in play, but top of the library did not contain the right CMC... Later I replaced one of them by Thawing glacier. Searching and shuffling is repeatable, but it provides no mana itself...

I also used to play Oboro, Palace in the clouds. Bouncing it for 1 cmc, discard via MoM, and get 3 mana is quite good deal. And now as the Legend rule is changing again, its almost indestructible... And again, Maze is has similar ability - at much higher CMC...

Having land which provides colorless mana (an advantage when compared to Thawing glaciers), and just waits for the bounce as part of the cost (an advantage compared to Oboro), and be played again (an advantage when compared to Esper panorama) simply for shuffle effect is really something which can shine with effects like Counterbalance and Future sight regardless of any gate...

Offler

07-12-2013, 02:39 AM

New core set to be prereleased soon. So lets see... It brought a lot of mindless reprints in blue, but its not uncommon lately and most new cards had much better manacost/power ratio in their previous versions. With one exception...

Elite Arcanist
Allow any instant to be "on a stick", and also allow to cast them for colorless mana as a side effect. Another side effect = does not work with spells with X in the cost. Summonning sickness is not the problem. Teferi makes it more viable...

People already started to invent "combos" ... This + Lightning bolt. Oh come on... Lets take a look on cards in this deck.

Turnabout
Surely best canditate to be used with him. Tap all enemy lands on upkeep, boost your mana every turn, tap enemy creatures before combat... With Aphetto alchemist, Illusionists Bracers, or Pemmin's Aura go infinite...

Brainstorm
Improves control with Counterbalance... Allows to draw one card for one blue mana = another wizard which can draw cards...

Ensnare, Gush or any Counterspell
Why not...

Mnemonic nexus
This card survived temporary exchange for Thran Foundry. Now it makes a lot more sense. Along with this card I have to play Archaeomancer, Snapcaster mage to reshuffle mnemonic nexus in running combo. Arcanist allow similar feature, via untap... With Arcanist, Mnemonic nexus means solid control over all graves... Therefore Snapcaster will be replaced. Why Snapcaster and not Archaeomancer? Well, flashback on spell with X on its cost is not the best choice. I want to keep them for next possible combo cycle.

Also dont forget on some very specific cards:
Evermind
Pact of negation
Shame that Ancestral vision is sorcery...
Time stop - with Teferi as general, imprinted on Elite Arcanist means another lock.

I was thinking a lot about Kaho, Minamo historian but her potential ends on fact that cards are being cast from exile instead of copying. Arcanist does not have this problem. I cant wait to test him...

Offler

08-26-2013, 03:15 AM

Minor changes

Elite Arcanist added to deck.
Evacuation was replaced by Time Stop. Time Stop also can defend me for one turn from attacking creatures, but it also can counter abilities and spells. Can be used on Arcanist with high success in 1v1. Evacuation on other hand almost cannot be used with Arcanist.
Deserted temple in testing.
Mindbreak trap removed, and replaced by Frantic search

Deck was also tested in its competetive mode with Knowledge pool, Omen machine. Many cards were bit too expensive for current mana base, but casting Fabricate was almost always equal to victory. Ethereal usher reconsidered. Tezzeret was re-tested too.

Adding Knowledge pool and Omen Machine will work when manabase will be reworked too. It simply takes too much time to rely only on lands.

Offler

09-18-2013, 08:18 AM

New set, new update in the deck...

Nykthos, shrine to Nyx
This deck is monocolor and its cards hold great potential with Devotion. For example Mind over Matter with 4 blue manasymbols allow this land to produce 2 extra blue mana per tap. Teferi has another 3 blue mana symbols and its still "at hand". Combo with Fatestitcher+Pemmins aura require another permanent with U to produce profit, but Teferi as commander can solve this.

-Caged sun +Extraplanar lens
-Faerie Conclave +Nykthos, shrine to Nyx
-Islands +Snow-Covered Islands
Caged Sun is great indeed and opens possibility to create a lot of combos, however its own cost is just too high. As it leaves deck, Faerie conclave will have no further potential and will be replaced by Nykthos. Also since Lenses work better with snow lands, these will be replaced too.

At this point its worth to mention that Faerie conclave is part of 2 combos, while Nykthos can be part of 6+ combos.

Frantic search
The main reason why it was added to deck is fact that it can untap up to 3 lands. Most spells in the deck were adjusted to work on Elite Arcanist. This is same case. Combination with Frantic Search and Pemmins aura opens possibility to run Draw/discard combo in case when at least 1 land is producing 2 mana per tap. Two such lands, or usage of High Tide creates additional profit in mana.

Barbed Blightning

09-22-2013, 11:15 PM

Just wanted to approve the Arcanist/Time Stop combo. Arcanist has been nuts in my Azami deck, and skipping a problem opponent's turn indefinitely has been both powerful and hilarious.

Offler

09-30-2013, 01:55 PM

Just a "minor" update to Elite Arcanist

This card has following potential in this deck with current list:

Combo Level 1
Time Stop = Its a nice two card lock. If Teferi is in play, situation gives only small opportunity for opponent to activate ability during upkeep. Draw phase of the player may not even occur. This combo enhanced with Pemmin's Aura or similar and enough mana allow to lock multiple opponents.

Combo level 2
Turnabout. This require cards like Illusionist's Bracers, Pemmin's Aura or Fatestitcher. You just need one of these cards, not all of them... :)
a) Tap all your lands
b) Activate Arcanist and untap all your lands
c) Activate Fatestitcher - untap Arcanist
d) Activate Arcanist, untap all creatures
Repeat with B. Result is infinite mana, eventually tapped all enemy permanents. Copied ability from Bracers can be used in similar way (one copy untap lands, other creatures), while Pemmin's Aura is mana dependant. You have to untap 6 mana at least per cycle.

3rd level combos require specifically pemmins aura or similar untap effect. Fatestitcher and Bracers will not work in this case. Its simple. You activate Arcanist paying colorless cost. Then you untap lands. If at least one of them produced 2 mana per tap, you can untap arcanist via Pemmins Aura and repeat the process. Frantic search is the best one, since it allows to go though library to find end of the combo. If untap produces 2 extra mana you already have gain which allows you to cast spells.

Rewind is bit weaker. If Teferi is in play and opponent can cast spells only at sorcery speed you can use imprinted rewind, untap you lands, untap Arcanist with Pemmin's Aura for the extra mana. Quite strong lock...

Snap is the weakest one, since it allows "only" to bounce all creatures on the table. I have not included it into the deck, but maybe Mana Drain will move to competetive version of the deck and the "budget" slot will be available for Snap.

And now some cards which didnt make it into deck:
Dream's Grip / Twiddle + Illusionist's Bracers
Requires permanent which produces at least 2 mana per tap. One copy untaps that land, other untaps Arcanist.

Toils of Night and Day + Illusionist's Bracers + any permanent able to produce at least 2 mana per tap
First copy untaps arcanist and some mana producing permanent. Second copy untap two other mana producing permanents. If untapped permanents produced at least 4 mana, you can go infinite. And tap enemy permanents. its a Lock or infinite mana

Toils of Night and Day + Permanent able to produce 4 mana per tap.
If you use the spell to untap arcanist, and one mana producing permanent, that permanent has to produce 4 mana at least. Currently possible only with Nykthos... Chances very low...

Toils of Night and Day + Pemmin's Aura
Its same but total cost for running the combo is not 3+1 but 4+1... So two untapped permanents have to produce at least 5 mana. Chance for such situation is quite low...

Dreams Grip and Twiddle however have only very limited potential in the deck so these combos cannot be included, Toils is bit better, however most combos they produce are at level 4. Its possible but probability to build such combination of cards is very low...

Arcanist in deck, with the cards I currently use can create more than 20 possible card combinations which result in filtering of hand, infinite mana or lock. This created completely new branch of combos within the deck.

Offler

11-20-2013, 03:22 AM

First I planned some update after Commander 2013. I think its quite nice set and a lot of good cards was given to commander players. However, none of them was for this deck. But one card reminded me few possibilities:

Jace's Archivist
My opponents usually also work on combos of their own. Forcing them to discard hand when they have tutored for at least one combo piece is quite good possibility, however most of them play decks with reanimating capabilities.

Windfall
Tolarian Winds
Soratami seer

Soratami Seer was single card from this group. His ability to bounce two lands was advantage and disadvantage at the same time. With Mind over Matter in play I cast him, he allowed me to draw amount of cards on hand + 2. 2 cards were discarded to get 4 mana and the cycle repeated. His big disadvantage is high manacost. Initial activation of his effect+his CMC = 9 mana. That means 3 or more cards to be discarded via MOM...

Both Windfall and Tolarian Winds can be attached to Elite arcanist, with Mind over Matter this combination require approx 2 cards to be discarded before repeating. Tolarian winds then has disadvantage since it "costs" 2 cards from hand each cycle, Windfall does not have this problem, same for Jace's Archivist.

Each of this cards has to be used with caution. Opponents should have no mana, or Teferi should be in play. Usage "outside of combo" may be risky - at least in our metagame with many reanimators.

Edit:
By the way, Forbid finally meant for me difference between win and lose. Me alone against 4 opponents, my Teferi in play, Mind Over Matter + Arcanis too. But the wizard suffered summoning sickness. 7 cards on hand, untapped Lotus Vale in play. I was able to defend for one whole round = Win.

Offler

01-30-2014, 03:40 AM

So new editions so lets update this deck a bit.

Oracle's Insight
First I overlooked this card since I was looking mostly for blue wizards. The potential in deck is quite good in many combos but we have to compare this card a bit.

Archivist
Archetype card for wizard who is drawing cards. CMC4, summoning sickness, and draws single card. Oracle's Insight is same in manner of mana, it require "additional body" to be attached to, but General Teferi fits in this scenario perfectly, especially because of Flash.

Azami, Lady of Scrolls
Azami and Insight have in common that once played they can be used to draw a card immediately. When combined with Mind over Matter Azami can mean victory, but insight allows to scry 1. This advantage means that I can save some cards on the bottom, and use up "half of library" until I found cards needed to finish the combo.

Definitely very interesting card for this deck.

Astral cornucopia
First thought this is fake, but obviously isn't. Even at cost of 6 mana can be used with most combos I play here. I think there are more broken ways how to play this cards (proliferate, anything that works with charge counters) it will be nice addition to the deck even without any those interactions. Combos which are based on un-tapping of artifact will be them bit more viable (currently I have 2 such artifacts = Gilded Lotus and Khalni Gem).

Sphinx's disciple
Basically its inverted Fallowsage. Not bad for this type of deck but its fate is similar as in case of Fallowsage. Both have nice interaction with Azami and MOM, but they cannot start combo of its own in this deck.

Oracle's Insight and Astral Cornucopia are clearly candidates for this deck.

Offler

04-22-2014, 06:38 AM

Ok, lets check some cards from Journey to Nyx:

Thassa's Ire
This enchantment is interesting because it does not need to be attached to a creature. The cost of ablity is bit too high, but still can work with Nykthos, shrine to Nyx and Fatestitcher if enough blue permanents is on table.

Pull from the deep
Allows to return up to 2 cards. Not bad at all, but still not going to replace Recall

Offler

05-14-2014, 04:29 PM

As usual I overlooked some blue cards again in Journey to Nyx:

Dakra Mystic
It allows to mill your opponnents regardless any Eldrazi situation, but also allows each player to draw a card. It is very interesting since it does not target oponnents. Really nice 1st turn drop and much nicer finishing card in deck like this one.

Now... to find a free slot for her...

Edit:

Grim monolith/Basalt monolith with Power artifact/Rings of Brighthearth or with Mana reflection are quite known. But if you want to play less obvious combos with artifacts check this:

Any artifact able to produce at least 2 mana, while 1 is blue can be used in this way.

Gilded lotus
Astral cornucopia
Khalni gem

Skill borrower can act this way if you can put one such artifact on top of your library.

Offler

06-09-2014, 04:40 AM

Lets mention few powerful cards which didnt make it into deck.

Dream Halls and Omniscience
Even when the deck contain Enter the Infinite and the combination in such situation is very obvious, the deck mostly relies on old-fashioned Discard/Untap method based on Mind over Matter. That way card drawing spells with X in cost and wizards which draw cards per tap can be used too. The main factor was "reactivity". Dream Halls and Omniscience interact with less amount cards in the deck.

Jace's Archivist
People are used to play mass discard. Result of his ability can be 0... Same is true for instant/sorceries with similar ability.

Inspired sprite
Interaction with Azami, Lady of scrolls and the self-untap ability is obvious. Even in this deck her abilities can be put to use as she interacts also with Voidmage prodigy and Patron Wizard and many others. She also makes Azami + MOM combo more viable, but only as a secondary effect.

However most "looting" effects in this deck were replaced by pure drawing effects, and I was unable to find any free slot for this faerie.

Dreamscape artist
This spellshaper was in the deck previously but he was later replaced with more aggressive card drawing.

Offler

06-12-2014, 02:51 PM

Now for some new Conspiracy cards:

Plea for power
This deck contain Savor the Moment. Its purpose is to act as Explore or to grant "Haste" to some creatures when Mind over matter is in play. Plea for power is very specific in this case. If Mind Over matter is in play there is no good or bad choice. Both are vice-versa same. It also perfectly fits the "academic" theme of the deck. Also you have to realize that "draw three cards" is much more probable.

Academy Elite
Flavour is nice, but 3 mana, and 1 counter for draw and discard? Simple draw would be better...

Muzzio, Visionary architect
Best artificer since Master Transmuter, however he does not fit well into this deck.

In case of "Will of council" you just have to remember that tie is in favor of one choice...

Edit:
First post is being re-arranged, mainly to make some card lists more logical.

Offler

06-25-2014, 09:25 AM

Thawing glaciers
In last games I sucesfully combined it with Rings of Brighthearth and Deserted temple. Most such games resulted in win, while the key was to have enough mana from basic lands in later phases of the game. So I tried to use Expedition map on it and the result was almost same.

Saprazzan cove
When I start to think which card to remove this is the first one I start to think about. Then I will have few games and it comes on starting hand, and I will play it as a first land. Result? Accelerates mana in early game stages, and allow to play more expensive spells later - even without enough lands. And also can be combined with Deserted temple.

It was recommended to me to remove both these lands and try Journeyer's kite instead. Even nonbasic land is safer than any artifact.

Anyways I returned to the idea of Crucible of Worlds. Esper panorama, Grixis panorama or Bant Panorama can be used to de-land library, and with this artifact even to repeat the process. However crucible of worlds attract too much hate, and of course there is a plenty of different fetchlands to be used in similar manner. This strategy is quite passive and require different player to take control of the table (unless Counterbalance with SDT is already in play).

Offler

07-08-2014, 06:03 AM

Laquatus's Creativity
This effect allows to draw and later discard quite a lot of cards. Looting on steroids some will say. People on gatherer correctly mentioned possibilites with Uba mask and Shared fate. What was missing was fact that this card allows you to draw a lot of cards if you started MOM combo with Stroke of genius. In case that your opponent has more cards in hand than in library you can finish him, and also in EDH if you want to play strategic game and allow different player to take significant card advantage - then you can help ... The effect isnt very different from flipped Jushi apprentice, and can be attached to Elite arcanist

Definitely going to try it.

Mystical tutor
As this deck is legal for both EDH, and German Highlander I wasnt able to add it into deck. Mystical tutor was banned until April 2014. Isnt banned anymore, so the fun may begin.

Ensoul artifact
Enchantments which turns other permanents into creatures work similar as untapper wizards within this deck. Most such effect were based on CMC which was bit limiting (Astral Cornucopia). Ensoul artifact isnt limited and can be attached to every mana-producing artifact in this deck, and later to be enhanced by Freed from the real.

Functionally its very similar to Wind zendikon with Lotus Vale. I play 3 non-basic lands which can be used to produce infinite blue mana, 2 other non-basic lands able to produce infinite colorless mana, while High tide and Extraplanar lens can be used to enhance basic lands. Ensoul artifact can enhance only 3 artifacts so the question is if its worthy.

The most effective untappers are those able to untap at least land, artifact or creature - which brings me back to Rimewind taskmage. At least I will try this.

Bed Decks Palyer

07-08-2014, 01:15 PM

Thawing glaciers
In last games I sucesfully combined it with Rings of Brighthearth and Deserted temple. Most such games resulted in win, while the key was to have enough mana from basic lands in later phases of the game. So I tried to use Expedition map on it and the result was almost same.

I really like thisinteraction, beautiful find, though maybe not exactly recent! Is there any chance you may further explore this direction? I guess transmuting Tolaria West for Thespian Stage -> Deserted Temple is quite a "combo of death", but I'm still sharing it. :smile:

Btw, is that Jagdpanther as your avatar? :cool:

Offler

07-09-2014, 03:07 AM

I was just commenting that even slow ramping can be accelerated a bit even in monoblue. Usually I was limited to "draw a lot of cards, drop a land every turn". Rarely I take another turn by Savor the moment simply to draw another card and drop another land. It acts as Explore.

Previously I was playing Dreamscape artist, and I used him with Rings of Brighthearth. Later I commented it "Well, I havent played a land in my turn yet" and I dropped 5th land in a turn :).

Thawing glaciers is one of the long forgotten cards - at least in our playgroups. It costs 10 euro so its considered to be expensive. People usually dont understand why its worth to play it. If not combined it ensures 1 basic land every 2 turns at least, so it makes mana screws less painful.

If combined with anything which can untap a land (Deserted temple, Fatestitcher, Tidewater minion, Rimewind taskmage) or copy activated ability (Rings of brighthearth) then you can put into play multiple tapped islands per turn. With "untapping combo" (Fatestitcher + Freed from the real + Teferi's Isle) you can activate Thawing glaciers infinite times to put all your basic lands into play.

There are even much more crazy interactions. Thawing glaciers + Wind zendikon + Pemmin's Aura :) But usually I wont sacrifice Pemmin's aura for this as its one of the crucial combo pieces... Maybe I should :)

Jagdpanther: Yes it is. And I am using it on another forum - with different nick...

Bed Decks Palyer

07-09-2014, 01:43 PM

snip...
Thawing glaciers is one of the long forgotten cards - at least in our playgroups. It costs 10 euro so its considered to be expensive. People usually dont understand why its worth to play it. If not combined it ensures 1 basic land every 2 turns at least, so it makes mana screws less painful.

Jagdpanther: Yes it is. And I am using it on another forum - with different nick...

Well, I'm not sure if "forgotten" is right word, in our lgs ppl definitely know about it, but deliberately don't use it, as the card is a bit cumbersome. But yeah, it's definitely powerful. Also... ten euros? :cry: Is it 1997 again?

I'm going to play the game of "Catch Offler". Give me one week and I swear I'll find you by the very avatar alone. :wink:

Offler

07-09-2014, 02:04 PM

Well, I'm not sure if "forgotten" is right word, in our lgs ppl definitely know about it, but deliberately don't use it, as the card is a bit cumbersome.

I always considered cards compared to whole deck they are used in. In this particular deck it works surprisingly well. Also I combined it with Sensei's Divining top, Scroll rack and even Counterbalance.

De-landing of library, intentional and precisely timed shuffling, and slow ramping. Only secondary effect which I am not using with this card is Landfall.

Of course - more often i see people with old duals and pain fetch lands or with green ramp as it serves to primary purpose. Here people know that it exists, but nobody owns such card since its too old.

Bed Decks Palyer

07-09-2014, 02:15 PM

I always considered cards compared to whole deck they are used in. In this particular deck it works surprisingly well. Also I combined it with Sensei's Divining top, Scroll rack and even Counterbalance.

De-landing of library, intentional and precisely timed shuffling, and slow ramping. Only secondary effect which I am not using with this card is Landfall.

Of course - more often i see people with old duals and pain fetch lands or with green ramp as it serves to primary purpose. Here people know that it exists, but nobody owns such card since its too old.

Yes, I agree. What I meant is that the whole card is designed in a bit unlucky way - not that it could have been better, it'll be much too powerful at least considering IA/AL environment -, as there are lots of "do this" and "do that" about the card like it's etb malus, and the fact that it goes to hand eot, and the search alone, and time constraints, plus maybe some other minor details that for some reason make it a bit annoying card to operate... at least for me and the few friends of mine that played it.
Otoh, it's pretty good, just maybe that it's not the best card for a pub playing.

edit: I'm surprised with the price you mention, it shouldn't be hard to get it for 3,5 (card) + 1,5 (pp) euro from MKM.

Ensoul artifact can be used only with 3 artifacts in my deck and other 2 card can form combo.
Rimewind taskmage can be used with 9 other permanents and 5 other can form combo.

At this point I just have to take care of snow-covered Islands.

Offler

07-21-2014, 08:25 AM

- Jushi Apprentice + Doubling Cube
Jushi can be used with Mind Over matter as a way how to improve hand, by adding more cards to it. Doubling cube does similar, but with mana, and does not have summ. sickness. Also its 4th artifact which forms combo with "untapper A" + "untapper B". This removes one quite expensive drawing effect and increases effectivity of few other combos.

Temple bell as competetive card for this slot will be moved to Dakra Mystic.

- Fabricate + Tezzeret the Seeker
Tezzeret's second ability can search for all artifacts in the deck from the beginning with two exceptions - Astral Cornucopia and Gilded lotus. Since Illusionist's Bracers using him as tutor is much more viable.

Edit:
Coral Atoll was replaced by Magosi, The Waterveil. This may be temporary or permanent, as Coral Atoll can be used only to produce colorless infinite mana, while Magosi can be used for hardlock with Rings of Brighthearth.

Offler

08-25-2014, 04:21 AM

So ... new batch of cards arrived, and I need some opinions...

Noble Benefactor
Since Gifts ungiven are banned this tutor has nice potential. But it will be best to cast and let him die within single turn, while Teferi is on guard. This deck does not have enough sacrifice engines, but I can change my control a bit...

Library of lat-nam
Not bad at all, but I belive my co-players will let me draw 3 cards every time...

Pendrell mists
To obtain this enchantment is pretty tricky here. The Tabernacle at Pendrell vale is also being considered, but currently its not available around here... This will solve the trouble with no sacrifice, while make creature control more effective - especially against tokens. The trouble is that "single big bad creature" strategy is used more often...

Meditate
There will be no next turn... I will win the game or not...

Equilibrium
Any wizard then turns into Boomerang. This may be used as an engine for Storm (not used in this deck) or allow one variation of Wizardstorm combo.

Soothsaying
Obvious combo with Counterbalance. This card is almost as powerful as SDT, but cant save itself so easy. Definitely being considered...

Flash
Still banned in german highlander, but its potential in deck which works with wizards is obvious.

Mist dragon, Rainbow efreet
Phasing is mechanic which I wanted to include as many times as possible. Also the deck really miss something to cause some combat damage.

What to include and what not?

Ryu092

08-30-2014, 07:28 AM

So ... new batch of cards arrived, and I need some opinions...

Noble Benefactor
Since Gifts ungiven are banned this tutor has nice potential. But it will be best to cast and let him die within single turn, while Teferi is on guard. This deck does not have enough sacrifice engines, but I can change my control a bit...

Library of lat-nam
Not bad at all, but I belive my co-players will let me draw 3 cards every time...

Pendrell mists
To obtain this enchantment is pretty tricky here. The Tabernacle at Pendrell vale is also being considered, but currently its not available around here... This will solve the trouble with no sacrifice, while make creature control more effective - especially against tokens. The trouble is that "single big bad creature" strategy is used more often...

Meditate
There will be no next turn... I will win the game or not...

Equilibrium
Any wizard then turns into Boomerang. This may be used as an engine for Storm (not used in this deck) or allow one variation of Wizardstorm combo.

Soothsaying
Obvious combo with Counterbalance. This card is almost as powerful as SDT, but cant save itself so easy. Definitely being considered...

Flash
Still banned in german highlander, but its potential in deck which works with wizards is obvious.

Mist dragon, Rainbow efreet
Phasing is mechanic which I wanted to include as many times as possible. Also the deck really miss something to cause some combat damage.

What to include and what not?
that depends
Library of lat-nam - mostly three cards benefit not bad at all.
Meditate - imagine this with orbs, does one turn really matter in that state of game? especially when four cards, almost for sure mean you have won?
Noble Benefactor+Pendrell mistsorFlash - death solved.

Sunder can be used in various manners. One of them was to save all lands, but at the end of turn, most of them will be discarded (its common that longer games means about 20+ lands). So it leads to another changes.

I dont plan to play Crucible in combination with Wasteland of Strip mine, instead I use it to save my lands from the grave. It already works with Tolaria West, while Panoramas are used as "poor mans fetchlands".

Another choices for this situation are Reliquary tower and/or Library of leng, but there are no free slots for now. Some report on play:

2 Snow covered lands, Thawing glaciers and Rimewind taskmage. I played 3rd Snow Island, and Glaciers allowed to put 4th in play. Taskmage's ability came alive, so I untapped the Glaciers and used them for the 2nd time 3 basic lands in one turn.

In next turns I also transmuted Tolaria west, and later i played it from the grave using Crucible, and similar of course for Panorama (its effect can be doubled even with Rings of Brighthearth)...

These few changes in last weeks increased numbers of shuffles, and manaramping as an side effect. Most time SDT helped me to collect crucial combo pieces.